Cooum River Restoration: Karti Chidambaram Demands White Paper After Mayor Reveals Use Of Rs 529 Cr Fund

The Cooum River restoration project aim to curb pollution protect the river through sustainable methods and encourage inter-sectoral coordination for comprehensive planning and management.

Congress MP Karti Chidambaram has called for a comprehensive white paper on all the initiatives undertaken to clean up the Cooum River. The demand of DMK's ally comes after Chennai Mayor R Priya revealed that Rs 529 crore has been spent out of the allocated Rs 750 crore for restoring the Cooum River.

Taking to X, Karti Chidambaram urged the Chennai Rivers Restoration Trust to release detailed information on the progress and efficacy of these schemes. “A white paper on all the schemes till date which promised to clean up the Cooum is needed! Chennai Rivers Restoration Trust must release it," Chidambaram tweeted, tagging the Chennai Corporation.

 

Chennai Corporation on Cooum River Restoration

Chennai Mayor R Priya revealed that Rs 529 crore has been spent for restoring the Cooum River, as per a report on The New Indian Express. The Mayor also announced that U.S. authorities have agreed to provide technical assistance and funding for the restoration project.

The statement was made in response to a query by Nolambur Zonal Chairman V Rajan during a council meeting. Rajan recalled that the Cooum was relatively clean until the 1980s and mentioned that Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, during his tenure as Mayor, had involved a Singapore-based firm in the river's restoration. 

Cooum River Restoration Project 

The Cooum River, originating from the surplus course of the Cooum tank in Tiruvallur District, flows eastward for about 65 kilometers and empties into the Bay of Bengal downstream of Napier Bridge, covering 20 kilometers within Chennai city limits.

The eco-restoration efforts aim to curb pollution, protect the river through sustainable methods and encourage inter-sectoral coordination for comprehensive planning and management.

The Chennai Rivers Restoration Trust is responsible for the river’s revival. According to the Trust, the present status of Cooum is that the river has become an urban sewer within city limits, receiving untreated municipal and industrial wastewater and refuse from nearby settlements.  It said, "The highly polluted reputation of the river also leads to public apathy and disposal of solid waste on the river bed that impacts downstream water quality and oxygen levels in the water."